Breaking Bad: "End Times"Review

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The dominoes begin to fall as the remarkably self-aware "End Times" prepares us for ... the end?

By Seth Amitin

Note: Full spoilers for the episode follow.

Early-ish in "End Times," we were thrown a curveball. The infamous lone ricin-packed cigarette in Jesse's pack was missing and Brock was very suddenly, very seriously ill. Chekhov's gun in chaos theory's practice. Suddenly, everything came together and Walt was the one to piece it together.

Now it doesn't make sense for Gus to do this, but BB has always been about blending reality with delusions and this mix works well. It's the exact catalyst needed to kickstart our finale.

[As an aside, look closely when Huell searches Jesse and what he does with his hands after the search. Saul is the only one that knows the connection between Jesse and Brock and would probably know (?) about the ricin cigarette. Saul wanted to see him immediately in this one, remember? He's also the only one that has something to gain from a head-on battle between Walt and Gus. Of course, the ambiguity is what makes it beautiful.]

Jesse was angry. Aaron Paul, again, acted the hell out of this one and there's no more words for it. I hope he gets a break coming up soon. I can't imagine how emotionally taxing all this crying and yelling is. Jesse thought Walt had something to do with it immediately. After everything that's happened to this point, it's at least partially rational—and Walt pointed out, laughing creepily and maniacally, this is exactly what Gus has wanted all along. Jesse is now not only OK with killing Walt, but is looking to do it himself. The puzzle pieces just fit too well.

A sane person would look at this and be like "OK, there's no way Gus could've a) planned it this well and b) executed this well. Not even him. Occam's razor: the kid picked up the cigarette, wanted to smoke it, and just picked the wrong one. It's random, but no one's that nefarious and evil."

But that's not -- and here's where the writers show how good they are -- what a paranoid and delusional being thinks. The writers have earned that for their characters and it paid off big. Jesse, being the subservient one, heard Walt out and it made sense in that moment. It just so happens that the paranoid, delusional one may be onto something.

There were some beautiful shots in this one. Walt sitting alone in his backyard by the pool, some dreary haunting music playing while he's spinning the gun on a glass table top. As it spun, each time it stopped with the nozzle pointed right at him (except once). Shots of houses and ATF agents everywhere. Shots of hospitals, shots of the New Mexico scenery, shots of parking lots and rooftops and dogs hunting down smells. It's the calm before the storm.

There was no major payoff in this one and thank goodness. The last few episode endings were, shall we say, a bit tense. It also kept the series from heading down the Lost road where every commercial break and every episode has to have some kind of hook. Instead, it was a reflection on where we are in the series and where we have been, and the series needed that right now.

Walt is isolated, depressed, paranoid, and on the verge of self-destruction. He's hoisted himself on his own petard and when he's not power-tripping, he's fearing for his life. It's a delicate balance.

Jesse is confused, distraught and a bit depressed. He's also acting a little like Walt at the moment.

Gus is somehow still Gus, which is what makes him Gus. After all of the destruction lately, he's become more reckless, even going to see Jesse in the hospital. But even that is just a minor blip on the radar.

Tyrus has become pushy. From his perspective, you kind of get it too, no? All of these meth cooks are demanding and entitled.

Hank's trail on Gus has gone cold for the time being, but that probably won't stop Hank later in the series.

Walt's family is quarantined and hopefully safe from whatever Final Judgment will strike Walt's head (which probably won't come).

Walt's attempt at a pipebomb was fruitless and of course it was - the season can't end like that. Are you serious? The whole scene set it up to point out the obvious: even if Walt did outsmart Gus, that's not how Gus is gonna go. There has to be some cataclysmic event … right?

If you didn't notice, Gus had another henchman in that final scene - another red shirt. I didn't point it out in my "Salud" review, because that episode was just crazy, but "Salud" did the same thing, where like 15 ubiquitous cartel dudes just appeared out of nowhere and with no introduction. More red shirts. It's the only real crack in the vase we've seen this season (that wasn't a cause of last season). But such is life. And really, do you care when it comes to a series of this quality?